The New York Times reports that Witt died Friday at his home in the Los Angeles area after a battle with cancer. He was 77.

“He worked at Columbia Pictures before joining comedian-actor Danny Thomas’ production company in 1973, where he and Thomas’ son, Tony, teamed up,” the story reports. “In 1975, Witt and Tony Thomas formed a production company that later expanded to include writer-producer Susan Harris, who created ‘The Golden Girls,’ the hit 1985-92 series starring Bea Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan.”